Material feeder means for continuous mining machine



D. A. WARD 3,190,699

2 Sheets-Sheet l June 22, 1965 MATERIAL FEEDER MEANS FOR CONTINUOUSMINING MACHINE Filed Dec. 14,` 1962' June 22, 1965 D. A. WARD 3,190,699

MATERIAL FEEDER MEANS FOR CONTINUOUS MINING MACHINE Filed Dec. 14, 19622 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. P L @00a/004. A/IpSr/a/ y ATTO S UnitedStates Patent O 3,199,699 MATERIAL FEEDER MEANS FOR CNIINUUS MININGMACHINE Donald A. Ward, Chicago, Ill., assigner to Goodman ManufacturingCompany, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Dec. 14, 1962,Ser. No. 244,612 8 Claims. (Cl. 299-64) This invention relates toimprovements in continuous mining machines and more particularlyrelatesto an improved means for collecting and feeding the materialmined by the machine to the conveyor of the machine.

A principal object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedform of cuttings collecting and feeding means for a continuous miningmachine, collecting and feeding the material mined onto the conveyor ofthe machine, and arranged with a view toward utmost simplicity inconstruction and eiciency in operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved form ofloading device particularly adapted for continuous mining machines andthe like, bulldozng the material mined from the floor upon advance ofthe machine during sumping into the mine face and feeding the minedmaterial laterally onto the elevating conveyor of the machine in acontinuous feeding operation.

A further object of the invention is to improve upon the continuousmining machines of the ripper type heretofore in use having a verticallymovable rotatable mining head, by providing a widened rooting orbulldozer blade extending across the forward end of the machinesubstantial distances beyond the inclined elevating conveyor of themachine and of substantially the width of the mining head, and byproviding feeders spaced upwardly of the bulldozer blade and feeding themined material onto the inclined elevating conveyor of the machine in acontinuous feeding operation.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved formof continuous mining machine having a transversely pivoted boomextending in advance of the main frame of the machine over an inclinedelevating conveyor, and having a transversely extending mining headsupported at its forward end and extending laterally beyond oppositesides of the conveyor, to mine by rotational movement of the mining headand upward feeding movement thereof, in which aprons extend laterallybeyond opposite sides of the conveyor to substantially the lateralmargins of theworking place and have feeder conveyors extendingtherealong from opposite sides thereof, in the plane of the materialcarrying plate of the elevating conveyor, and driven from the elevatingconveyor for feeding the mined material thereonto in a continuousoperation.

These and other objects of the invention will appear from time to timeas the following speciiication proceeds and with reference to theaccompanying drawings wherein: A FIGURE l is a partial fragmentary Viewin side elevation of the forward end portion of a continuous miningmachine constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention,with certain parts of the elevating conveyor shown in longitudinalsections; Y

v FIGURE 2 is an enlarged plan view of the forward end portion of themachine, with the boom and mining head broken away and with certainparts of the feeder conveyor shown in horizontal section in order toshow the drive thereto; and

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along lines 3 3 ofFIGURE 2.

In FIGURE 1 of the drawings I have shown the forward end portion of acontinuous mining machine mounted on laterally spaced continuoustraction tread devices 11. The traction tread devices 11 serve totransport the machine from working place to Working place and to sump arotary mining head 12 supported in advance of a main frame 13 of themachine and extending transversely thereof, into the working face of amine. The mining head 12 is shown as being a drum type of mining headhaving cutter bits 14 projecting from the periphery thereof. A boom 15supports the mining head at its forward end a substantial distance inadvance of the forward end of the main frame 13 and is transverselypivoted to the main frame 13 on laterally spaced transverse pivot pins16.

The continuous mining machine 10 is of a type commonly called a rippercontinuous mining machine, and operates on principles similar to thoseshown and described in an application, Serial No. 277,540, acontinuation-in-part of abandoned application Serial No. 67,267, ledNovember 4, 1960, by Richard C. Lundquist. Application Serial No.277,540 is assigned to the assignee of the present application andissued as Patent No. 3,157,438 on November 17, 1964. The Lundquistapplication relates to the support and drive for the cutter drum whilethe present application relates particularly to the cuttings collectingand feeding mechanism so the support and drive to the cutter drum needonly be shown and described generally herein.

The boom arm 15 is transversely pivoted to the main frame of the machinealong opposite sides of the conveyor 17 and extends over the top of saidconveyor in advance of the forward end thereof and supports the rotarymining head 12 at its forward end for rotation about an axis extendingtransversely of the main frame of the machine.

Motors 19 extend along opposite sides of the boom 15 and have speedreducer housings 20 at the forward ends thereof, forming continuationsof the motor housings. The speed reducer housings ,20 containconventional speed r-eduction gearing (not shown) therein.

The speed reduction gearing contained in the housings 26 forms the meansfor driving flexible and universal drive connections 21, driving themining head 12 through beveled gear drive connections (not shown) in amanner similar to that shown and described in the aforementionedapplication of Richard C. Lundquist, Serial No. 277,540,

now Patent No. 3,157,438, and forms no part of theV present invention sonot herein shown or described further.

The boom 15 and mining head 12 are elevated by hydraulic jacks 22,extending along opposite sides of an inclined elevating frame structure23, and pivotally connected between the forward end portion of the mainframe 13 and the boom 15 to elevate and lower said boom and hold saidboom in position, in a conventional manner.

The inclined elevating frame structure 23 of the conveyor 17, includesparallel spaced side plates 25 transversely pivoted at their rear endsto the main frame 13 on transverse pivot pins 26, shown in FIGURE l asbeing disposed above the pivot pins 16 and in advance thereof. The sideplates 2S are connected together at their lower ends by a bottom plate27 extending therebetween and conforming to the path of travel of thelower run of an endless chain 29, having flights 30 connected theretoand extending laterally from opposite sides thereof, and forming thematerial carrying means for the conveyor. As shown in FIGURE l, thebottom plate 27 has an upwardly curved forward end portion 31,conforming to the path of travel ofthe endless chain 29 and flights 3d,as they pass about a direction changing sprocket 32, at the forward endportion of the inclined elevating frame structure 23. The sprocket 32 iskeyed or `otherwise secured to a transverse shaft 33, forming a driveshaft for two feeders 35, shown in FIGURES 2 and 3 as being apron typesof feeder conveyors.

The plate 31 terminates at its upper end at the intermediate portion ofa scraper or bulldozer blade 36. The

bulldozer blade 36 extends laterally beyond opposite sides of theelevating frame structure 23 for substantially 4the width of the mininghead 12, and is inclined downwardly from the upper end of the upwardlycurved portion 31 of the plate 27 to the ground. A ground engaging shoe37 connects the lower end portion of the scraper blade 36 with the plate27 and forms the support for the inclined elevating `frame structure ofthe conveyor, accommodating said frame structure to be slidably movedalong the ground by the continuous traction tread devices 11, and scrapeor bulldoze the material from the ground to be loaded onto the conveyor17 during advance of the machine as the mining head 12 is sumped intothe working face of a mine. An inclined material carrying plate 39extends between the side plates 25 and is welded or otherwise securedthereto, and forms a support for the upper run of the chain 29 and ights30. The plate 39 is turned downwardly around the shaft 33 at its lowerend and extends backwardly along the lower run of the conveyor and hasan upwardly turned wall portion 42 extending between the runs of thechain 29, to the bottom of the plate 39. The downwardly and backwardlyturned portion of the plate 39 together with the upright wall 42 forms ahousing 40, housing bevel gears 41 keyed or otherwise secured to theshaft 33 and meshing with bevel gears 43 on the lower ends of driveshafts 44 for driving the feeder conveyors 35, as will hereinafter moreclearly appear as this specification proceeds.

Inclined aprons 45 extend upwardly along and laterally of the sideplates 25 and form upward continuations of the scraper blade 36 alongopposite sides of the conveyor at a flatter angle than the angle of saidscraper blade. The aprons 45 have top surfaces in the plane of thematerial carrying plate 39, and have cutaway portions 46 along which thefeeder conveyors travel to feed material onto the conveyor 17. Thematerial carrying plate 39 also has cut-away portions 47 at oppositesides thereof, to enable the feeder conveyors 35 to move intointersecting relation with respect to the ights 30 on the level of thetop surface of the material carrying plate 39.

The aprons 45 have depending side walls 4S extending along oppositesides thereof and extending along said apron and the outer sides of thescraper blade 36 and welded or otherwise secured to said scraper bladeand to the ground engaging shoes 37.

Forward transversely extending plates 49 connect the side walls 48 withthe housing 40 and terminate at opposite ends of the upwardly turnedwall portion 42 of said housing. Said upturned wall portion forms asupport for bearing supports for the forward or lower ends of the driveshafts 44. Idler shafts 50 adjacent the outer or lateral ends of theapron 45 are journalled at one end in the plates 49 and at theiropposite ends in parallel upwardly spaced plates 51. The plates 51extend from the side walls 4S within the inclined elevating framestructure 25, between the upper and lower runs of the chain 29, and forma support for bearing supports for the rear bearings for the driveshafts 44 and the idler shafts 50.

The portions of the side walls 25 of the inclined elevating section ofthe conveyor 17 extending above the material carrying plate 39 terminateinto forwardly facing shoulders 52 at the upper margins of the aprons45. The portions of the side walls 25 extending beneath the aprons 45also have cut-away portions 53 to accommodate the feeder conveyors 35 toextend in the space between the upper and lower runs of the conveyorchain 29 and ights 30. Back boards 52a abut the shoulders 52 and extendfrom said shoulders outwardly along the rear end portions of the aprons45. Bottom plates 54 extend between the front and rear side plates 49and 51 andare shown as being welded or otherwise secured to the bottomsof said plates for supporting the lower runs of the conveyor feeders 35.The bottom plates 54 stop short of the side plates 48 and providedischarge openings 55, accommodating slack carried laterally beyond theconveyor 17 to be discharged onto the ground along the outer sides ofthe aprons 48.

The feeder conveyors 35 are shown in FGURES 1, 2 and 3 as being of theapron type including spaced endless chains 56 having flights 57extending across the outer sides thereof and forwardly and rearwardly ofsaid chains into juxtaposition with the front and rear walls 49 and 51respectively. The flights 57 on the upper runs of the chains 56 have topsurfaces flush with the top surfaces of the aprons 45 and iush with thetop surface of the material carrying plate 39 of the inclined elevatingsection of the conveyor 17. The flights 57 may thus travel within thelateral limits of the conveyor 17 without interfering with the flights30.

The upper runs of the endless chains 56 of each feeder conveyor 35 aresupported for movement along a plate 59 connected between the front wall49 and rear wall 51 and forming a material carrying surface for carryingfines falling between the liights 57 onto the plate 59 and moved alongsaid plate by the feeder conveyor into the space between the upper andlower runs of the conveyor chain 29 and flights 30, to be carriedforwardly by the lower run of the conveyor chain 29 and ights 30 aroundthe plate portion 31, to be carried upwardly along the material carryingplate 39 by the conveyor 17.

The endless chains 56 mesh with drive sprockets 60 on the shafts 44within the confines of the path of travel of the flights 30. The endlesschains 56 change their directions of travel adjacent the outer sides ofthe aprons 45 about idler sprockets 61 on the idler shafts 50.

As has previously been mentioned, the shafts 44 are driven by the bevelgears 41 on the idler shaft 33, driven from the conveyor chain 29 andmeshing with the bevel gears 43 keyed or otherwise secured to theforward ends of the -shafts 44, for driving the apron feeders toprogress loose material inwardly along the aprons 45 to the materialcarrying plate 39 of the conveyor 17, to be carried away by the conveyor17 and loaded onto .a suitable material carrying means.

The inclined elevating frame structure 23 of the couveyor 17 and theaprons 48 and scraper blade 36 are raised and lowered about the coaxialaxes of the shafts 26 by hydraulic jacks 63. As partially shown inFIGURE 1, the hydraulic jacks 63 are connected to the main frame 13 andhave pivotal connection with the undersurface of the plate 27 to raiseand lower the inclined elevating frame structure and aprons 48, and toretain said frame structure and aprons in position when desired ornecessary, it being understood that the shoe 37 usually has floatingengagement with the ground during operation of the machine.

During the operation of sumping the mining head 12 into the working faceof a mine, the shoe 37 rests on the ground and the continuous tractiontread devices 11 force the mining head 12 into the mine face and alsocrowd or bulldoze the material on the ground upwardly along the scraperblade 36 onto the receiving end of the conveyor 17, and onto the aprons45, into the paths of the apron feeders 35, feeding the loose materialto the conveyor 17.

As the mining head 12 -is fed upwardly, the material mined thereby willbe carried backwardly and drop onto the apron feeders 35 and aprons 45to be continually progressed toward the conveyor 17, to be carried awayby said conveyor for loading.

1t may be seen from the foregoing that an improved form of cuttingscollecting and loading means has been provided for collecting thematerial mined by the mining lhead 12 and loading this material in acontinuous flow toward the conveyor 17, and that the cuttings collectingmeans not only progresses the material discharged thereonto by themining head 12 toward the center of the machine, but also progresses thematerial bulldozed from the ground toward the center of the machine in acontinuous How.

It should further be understood that the loading means of the inventionmay be used directly as a loader when it is'desired to clean up aworking place after a mining operation.

While I have herein shown and described one form in which my inventionmay be embodided, it may readily be understood that various variationsand modifications in the invention may be attained without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the novel concepts thereof, as defined bythe claims appended hereto.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a continuous mining machine, a main frame, a boom transverselypivoted to said mainframe and extending in advance thereof, a rotarymining head supported on said boom for rotation about an :axis extendingtransversely of said main frame, a conveyor extending along said mainframe beneath said boom and having an inclined elevating forward endportion extending in advance of said main frame into engagement with theground, said inclined elevating forward end por-tion of said conveyorhaving an inclined material carrying plate having an endless chain andflight :conveyor movable upwa-rdly therealong, and feeder meansextending laterally from opposite sides of said material carrying plateand upwardly therealong into the space between the upper and lower runsof said chain and ight conveyor and having material feeding surfaces inthe plane of the ytop surface of said material carrying plate.

2. In a continuous mining machine, a main frame, a boom transverselypivoted to said main frame and extending in advance thereof, a rotarymining head supported on said boom for rotation about an axis extendingtransversely of said main frame, means for vertically moving said boomwith respect to said main frame and feeding said mining head verticallyalong a mine face, a conveyor eX- -tending along said main frame beneath`said boom and having .an inclined elevating forward end portionextending in advance of said main frame int-o engagement with theground, having an inclined material carrying plate and an endless chainand flight conveyor movable upwardly therealong, .a scraper bladeextending across the front of said conveyor and laterally beyondopposite :sides thereof, and feeder means extending along saidconveyoiand later- .ally beyond opposite sides thereof, includinginclined aprons extending upwardly from said :scraper blade alongopposite sides of .said conveyor in the plane `of said material carryingplate, and apron feeders recessed beneath said aprons and havingmaterial carrying surfaces ush with the tops of said aprons for feedingthe mined material toward the center of the machine onto `said inclinedelevat-ing conveyor.

3. In a continuous mining machine, a main frame, a boom transverselypivoted to said main frame and extending in advance thereof, a rotarymining head supported on said boom for rotation about an axis extendingtransversely of .said main frame, means for vertically moving said boomwith respect to lsaid main frame and feeding said mining head verticallyalong a mine face, other means for feeding said mining head into a mineface, a conveyor extending along said main frame and having an inclinedelevating forward end portion exten-ding in advance of `said main frameinto engagement with the ground and including an inclined materialcarrying plate having an endless chain and nights movableupwardly'therealong, an idler for said chain and flights at the forwardend of said material carrying plate, a shaft for said idler and driventhereby, apron-s extending along opposite sides of said materialcarrying plate in the plane of said plate, feeder means extending alongsaid aprons from the youter sides thereof into the space between theruns of said conveyor and having material carrying portions in the planeof said material carrying plate, and drive means for said feeder meansdriven from said idler shaft and extending between the upper and lowerruns of said conveyor.

4. In a continuous mining machine, a main frame, a

boom transversely pivoted to 'said main frame and extending in advancethereof, a rotary mining head supported on said boom for rotation aboutan axis extending transversely of said main frame, means for verticallymoving said boom and mining head, means advancing said main frame andboom to sump said mining head into a working face of a mine, a conveyorextending along said main frame beneath said boom and having an inclinedelevating forward end frame structure extending in advance of said mainframe into engagement with the ground, a scraper blade extending acrossthe forward end of said elevating conveyor frame structure and laterallybeyond opposite sides thereof, said inclined elevating frame structureincluding a material carrying plate, a chain and ight conveyor movableupwardly along said plate, an idler at the forward end of said framestructure about which said chain and flights change their direction oftravel, inclined aprons extending along said material carrying plate inthe plane of said plate and laterally bey-ond opposite sides thereof,feeder conveyors extending along said aprons from the outer sidesthereof in the planes of said aprons and into the space between theupper and lower runs of -said chain and iiight conveyor, means drivenfrom said idler within the vertical limits of said chain and iiightconveyor for d-riving said feeder conveyors, bottom plates for Saidfeeder conveyors extending outwardly of said frame structure andstopping short of the -outer sides of said aprons to provide dischargeopenings accommodating the lower runs of said conveyor to discharge tinematerial 4through said openings, and the bottom of said inclined framestructure being closed and generally conforming to the path of travel ofsaid chain and flights they change their direction of travel about saididler, to progress fine material conveyed by said feeder conveyor :andpassing in the space between said conveyors and said material carryingplate, to the front of said conveyor to be loaded thereonto.

'5. A combined mining and loading machine in accordance with claim twherein the feeder conveyors are apron conveyors having materialcarrying surfaces on the level of said aprons and said material carryingplate.

6. In a conveyor having an inclined elevating frame structure havingengagement with the ground at its forward end and having a scraper bladeextending across the forward end thereof and beyond opposite sidesthereof, a chain having flights extending laterally beyond oppositesides thereof, a direction changing idler at the forward end fof saidframe structure rearwardly of said scraper blade and changing thedirection of travel of said chain and nights, a material carrying platealong which said chain and flights move, and feeder means for said chainand flights including aprons extending upwardly along opposite sides Iofsaid material carrying plate in the plane thereof and including feederconveyors extending along said aprons from the outer sides thereof andhaving material carrying surfaces in the planes of said aprons and saidmaterial carrying plate, said feeder conveyors changing their directionof travel at their discharge ends in the space between the upper andlower runs of said chain and flights.

7, A conveyor in accordance with claim 6 wherein the feeder conveyorsare driven from said idler sprocket within the contines of the upper andlower runs of said conveyor and comprise apron conveyors having materialcarrying flights in the plane of said aprons and said material carryingplate.

8. In a continuous mining machine, a main frame, a boom transverselypivoted to said main frame and extending in advance thereof, a rotarymining head supported on said boom for rotation about an axis extendingtransversely tof said main frame, means for vertically moving said boom:and mining head, other means for advancing said frame and sumping saidmining head into a working face, an endless chain and flight conveyorextending along said main frame and having an inclined material carryingsurface extending in advance of said main frame in a downwardly inclineddirection toward the ground, an inclined scraper blade extending acrossthe forward end of said conveyor and laterally beyond opposite sidesthereof, and feeder means forming upward continuatfions of said scraperblade for feeding the mined material laterally onto the inclinedmaterial carrying surface of said endless chain and ilight conveyorcomprising aprons extending along opposite sides of the inclinedmatenial carrying surface of said endless chain and flight conveyor inthe plane of said inclined material carrying surface, apron conveyorsextending along said aprons from the outer sides thereof into the spacebetween the upper yand lower runs of said endless chain and flightconveyor and having material carrying surfaces in the plane of saidapron conveyors and References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATESPATENTS 2,788,202. 4/57 Barrett. 2,792,204 5/57 Cartlidge. 3,044,753 7/62 Wilcox.

BENJAMlN HERSH, Primary Examiner.

1. IN A CONTINUOUS MINING MACHINE, A MAIN FRAME, A BOOM TRANSVERSELYPIVOTED TO SAID MAIN FRAME AND EXTENDING IN ADVANCE THEREOF, A ROTARYMINING HEAD SUPPORTED ON SAID BOOM FOR ROTATION ABOUT AN AXIS EXTENDINGTRANSVERSELY OF SAID MAIN FRAME, A CONVEYOR EXTENDING ALONG SAID MAINFRAME BENEATH SAID BOOM AND HAVING AN INCLINED ELEVATING FORWARD ENDPORTION EXTENDING IN ADVANCE OF SAID MAIN FRAME INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THEGROUND, SAID INCLINED ELEVATING FORWARD END PORTION OF SAID CONVEYORHAVING AN INCLINED MATERIAL CARRYING PLATE HAVING AN ENDLESS CHAIN ANDFLIGHT CONVEYOR MOVABLE UPWARDLY THEREALONG, AND FEEDER MEANS EXTENDINGLATERALLY FROM OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID MATERIAL CARRYING PLATE ANDUPWARDLY THEREALONG INTO THE SPACE BETWEEN THE UPPER AND LOWER RUNS OFSAID CHAIN AND FLIGHT CONVEYOR AND HAVING MATERIAL FEEDING SURFACES INTHE PLANE OF THE TOP SURFACE OF SAID MATERIAL CARRYING PLATE.
 6. IN ACONVEYOR HAVING AN INCLINED ELEVATING FRAME STRUCTURE HAVING ENGAGEMENTWITH THE GROUND AT ITS FORWARD END AND HAVING A SCRAPER BLADE EXTENDINGACROSS THE FORWARD END THEREOF AND BEYOND OPPOSITE SIDES THEREOF, ACHAIN HAVING FLIGHTS EXTENDING LATERALLY BEYOND OPPOSITE SIDES THEREOF,A DIRECTION CHANGING IDLER AT THE FORWARD END OF SAID FRAME STRUCTUREREARWARDLY OF SAID SCRAPER BLADE AND CHANGING THE DIRECTION OF TRAVEL OFSAID CHAIN AND FLIGHTS, A MATERIAL CARRYING PLATE ALONG WHICH SAID CHAINAND FLIGHTS MOVE, AND FEEDER MEANS FOR SAID CHAIN AND FLIGHTS INCLUDINGAPRONS EXTENDING UPWARDLY ALONG OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID MATERIALCONVEYORS EXTENDING ALONG SAID APRONS AND INCLUDING FEEDER CONVEYORSEXTENDING ALONG SAID APRONS FROM THE OUTER SIDES THEREOF AND HAVINGMATERIAL CARRYING SURFACES IN THE PLANES OF SAID APRONS AND SAIDMATERIAL CARRYING PLATE, SAID FEEDER CONVEYORS CHANGING THEIR DIRECTIONOF TRAVEL AT THEIR DISCHARGE ENDS IN THE SPACE BETWEEN THE UPPER ANDLOWER RUNS OF SAID CHAIN AND FLIGHTS.